US defence contractor hit by hackers

Defence contractor Lockheed Martin has noted a dramatic growth in the number and sophistication of international cyber attacks on its networks.

The company said that it was contacting suppliers to help them spruce up their security. Chandra McMahon, Lockheed vice president and chief information security officer, said about 20 percent of the threats directed at Lockheed networks were considered "advanced persistent threats." These are prolonged and targeted attacks by a nation state or other group trying to steal data or harm operations. She said that campaigns had increased dramatically over the last several years.

Since Lockheed improved its security, the hackers had been targeting suppliers to gain access to information. Curiously hacks asked Lockheed officials if any of the attacks they had seen originated in Iran. We would have thought the logical attacker would have been China. This might indicate that the US media machine is gearing up for some form of military action against Iran. Lockheed did not say where the attacks had come from.